


The Bomber

by TheManedWolf



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-08-05 17:05:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16371641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheManedWolf/pseuds/TheManedWolf
Summary: This story is set in the proto-Zootopia (shock collar) universe, and features Judy recruiting Nick to help put an end to a series of bombings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All of the artwork was created by Lulu, and was done in charcoal (chapters 1 & 2), or ink (chapter 3).  
> The writing is by Manedwolf, with assistance on editing and pacing from Silverchase, and others.

It was early morning in the predator-only slum known as 'Happytown', and though few mammals were out and about, all of them took notice of her as she passed.  
ZPD Detective Judy Hopps walked up six crumbling concrete steps, and then through what was technically a door way, though it no longer held a door.  
She strolled confidently down the graffiti covered hallway, until she reached a door with '106' gouged into it.  
Most prey animals wouldn't dare set foot in Happytown, let alone a building like this, but Judy wasn't most prey animals.  
In her most authoritative voice, she yelled "Open up Nick, I need to talk to you," as she pounded on the battered door with her fist.  
A few moments later, a fox wearing only boxer shorts opened the door, as far as the security chain would allow.  
Nick Wilde barked "What do you want?!" before looking down far enough to see who it was at his door so early in the morning.  
His eyes opened wide, "Judy? A-are you crazy? You can't be here!"  
The fox shut the door to undo the chain, then quickly reopened it to grab the rabbit's coat, and drag her inside.  
As soon as she was through the threshold, he slammed the door shut behind her, and locked it.

Wilde leaned over a bit, to be more on Judy's level, with his paws on his knees.  
Keeping his voice down, but with a tone of urgency, he said, "That badge of yours won't protect you here, or me for that matter!"  
Judy quickly reached up and shut the fox's muzzle with her paws, "We've just received a note from The Bomber. He's going to strike somewhere downtown tonight."  
As Nick struggled out of her grip, she continued unfazed, "Do you have any idea where exactly he might strike next?"  
The fox straightened the fur on his now free muzzle, "No, I don't associate with terrorists Fluff, I run a respectable amusement park."  
After a brief contemplative pause, he added, "However, I do have an old friend that has ears all over Happytown, she might know."

Nick lifted the receiver of the old rotary phone atop his dresser, then slowly dialed in a number.  
As he waited for the other mammal to answer, he flipped a spray can of Musk Mask in his free paw.  
"Hey Finnick ol' buddy! Yes. Yes, I know it's really early. Listen, I'm in a bind here, can you bring your van over to the alley behind my place?"  
With a smile on his face, he said "Thanks, I owe ya," as he hung up the phone.

Wilde popped the cap off the can of Musk Mask, then sprayed it into his arm pits.  
Turning his hips away from Judy, he tugged the elastic of his boxers open, and gave his crotch a spray as well.  
Judy shook her head in disgust. "Why are you so gross? Can you please put on some pants now?"  
Feigning being hurt by her words, he replied "Well I never! I welcomed you into my home, called in a favor for you, and now you insult me?"

Making a big show of it, Nick pulled on a pair of pants, "There, happy now?"  
With the slightest hint of a smirk, she said "That's better, but how about a shirt too?"  
He rolled his eyes at her as he began putting on a loud yellow and pink Hawaiian shirt, "Ugh, so demanding."  
Nick looked her up and down, "Could you be any more conspicuous? I can't be seen hanging out with a ZPD detective."  
Judy shrugged, "I didn't bring any street clothes, so you're just going to have to deal with it."  
"No, you're going to need a disguise," Nick replied, as he began began rummaging through the mess inside his closet.

From out of the heap Nick retrieved an elephant costume, which had been intended for a fox toddler.  
Judy just stared at it disbelievingly. "You've got to be joking."  
Nick gave her his most innocent look. "Sorry Officer Carrots, it's the only thing I have in your size."  
She only shook her head in reply, so Nick added, "It's important. That is, if you do want me to continue to be a resource to call on, instead of a murder victim to investigate."  
Nick could see her begin to waver, so he passed her an old duffel bag.  
"Put your detective coat and police belt in here. Oh and you better put on some of this musk mask too."  
Judy regathered what was left of her resolve. "There's got to be another way, I'm not wearing that!"

A few minutes later, Judy emerged from Nick's bathroom in the costume. "I can't believe I'm wearing this."  
Nick picked up the duffel bag, and then the pair walked through the apartment building out to the back alley, where they found Finnick's van waiting.  
Once they were on their way, Judy asked "Wait, why did I need the costume?"  
Wilde smiled and then shrugged. "Nobody was in the alley today, so you I guess you didn't."  
With a look of rage on her face, Judy yelled "Are you serious?!"  
He put his paws up apologetically. "Well, there was no way to know that in advance, so you had to wear it, just in case."  
With a smirk, he added "But I won't pretend I wasn't curious to see if you'd actually wear it.


	2. Chapter 2

Finnick put the van in drive. "Honey's place is in the Rainforest District, and it's a half hour's drive away, so get comfy."  
He glanced back at Judy in the rear view mirror. "And by that I mean take off my elephant costume. You know I don't wear anything under that right?"  
Judy didn't need any further motivation to quickly remove the elephant costume, revealing the ZPD uniform underneath.  
The fennec fox turned to Nick, "You didn't tell me she was a cop! Honey is not gonna like this, and I don't either."  
Nick replied calmly "Relax dude, Judy is trying to catch that crazy 'pred liberation' bomber, and I'm sure honey will help once she knows that."  
He continued "You're right that Honey's not gonna be happy when she see that uniform though. Can Judy borrow a sweatshirt or something?"  
Finnick put his palms up, causing the van to swerve a bit. "Sure, why not, might as well have all my clothes smell like rabbit. I hope you at least brought gas money."  
Judy picked a up small sweatshirt from the mess on the floor of the van. "I put on musk mask earlier, and I can pay for your gas, so relax."  
The sweatshirt fit her perfectly, big ears and all; Judy surmised it had probably been made for a rabbit in the first place.

The rest of the trip was quiet, with the only sounds coming from the van's radio and the road.  
When they arrived, Nick asked Finnick if he wanted to join them.  
Finnick shook his head and said, "Nah, she's got a weird thing for me. The last time I went in there, I didn't stumble back out for a week."  
Nick hopped out of the van, and began walking up the crumbling concrete path, with Judy following close behind.  
She looked ahead at the hillside, which had a concrete wall jutting out of it, and a metal door at its center. "Your friend lives in an old military bunker?"  
Without looking back at her, Nick said replied quietly "Yeah, and she's a little paranoid, so be cool; you don't want to set her off, for both our sakes."  
The pair walked up the flight of rusty metal steps that led to the unmarked steel door, and stopped, with the fox in front of the rabbit.  
Nick looked up at the security camera above, and then pressed the small black button next to the door. "Hey Honey, it's Nick, can we talk?"

After a few minutes of waiting, Judy said "I hear a microwave running, is she seriously making breakfast?"  
Nick chuckled "You've got good ears. Knowing her, she's probably warming up a mug of yesterday's coffee."  
That prompted a quiet "ugh" out of Judy, to which Nick replied, "Be nice, she's going to help."  
Finally, they heard a heavy deadbolt unlock, and a paw with giant claws pushed the bunker door open.  
From the near darkness, they saw the tired and slightly angry face of a honey badger emerge. 

Honey stepped into the morning light wearing nothing but a bathrobe, with a coffee mug in her paw, and an angry look on her face.  
Glaring at Nick, she said "You two know better then to wake me up at this time of day. This better be important."  
With his paws clasped apologetically, Nick greeted her. "Honey! Sorry to wake you up, but I need some information, and you're the pro at that."  
Honey only grumbled in response, and then glanced over at Judy, as she was lifting off the hood of her borrowed sweatshirt.  
The badger's eyes popped open, and she spilled some of her coffee. "You're not Finnick, you're that bunny cop!"  
Her sudden anger set off the shock collar around her neck, causing her to spill a bit more of her coffee, but otherwise barely phasing the tough badger.  
Nick stepped between Honey and Judy, with his paws outstretched, and a pleading look on his face. "Now hold on Honey, let's talk about this."  
Still angry, but restrained herself to avoid another shock, she yelled "Are you crazy? I can't believe you brought a cop here!"  
Judy interrupted, with her surprisingly commanding voice. "I don't give a shit about whatever you're doing down there. We're after The Bomber; can you help or not?"

Honey paused, and her expression softened. "Oh. Yeah, I can help with that. We better talk inside though."  
Nick stepped through the threshold, with Judy following closely behind, and Honey locked the heavy door behind them.  
Honey beckoned them past the old boxes and crates that lined the foyer of the bunker she called her home.  
Set into the floor at the back of the small room was an open metal hatchway, containing a metal ladder.  
Lead by Honey, the trio made their way down the ladder, into the depths of the musty smelling bunker.

As soon as they had all reached the bottom, Honey got right down to business.  
"We should be safe from prying ears down here. Now then, the bomb that went off by The Cloven Hoof, it was made with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, right?"  
Judy considered for a moment how much she wanted to reveal, then said "That's not public information... but yes."  
Honey nodded, then turned and walked over to a large map of Zootopia she had hung up on the wall.  
The map was covered with pictures, newspaper clippings, and string, all held together by pins.

Honey pointed to a pin on the map. "There's a group of pigs that took over an old abandoned warehouse by the river, right here."  
"Before each bombing, they've brought in a few dozen bags of fertilizer, along with with some containers of fuel oil."  
She turned around dramatically, "Earlier this week through, they brought in hundreds of bags of fertilizer, and an old heating oil truck."  
"That's... more than a little suspicious," Judy mused, as she tapped her foot in contemplation. "It's definitely worth checking out."  
Honey shrugged and then shook her head. "If I thought the ZPD would listen to a pred, I would have called it in, even though I don't like dealing with you guys."  
Judy smiled, "I understand, Thanks. However, do I want to know how you know all this?"  
Before an annoyed look could finish forming on the badger's face, Nick stepped in.  
"You really don't Judy. Thanks Honey, you're the best, I owe ya!"  
As Nick dragged Judy back to the ladder by her paw, Honey yelled, "That makes three!"  
The pair walked quickly back to the van, and then Nick knocked on the passenger window. "Hey Finnick, can you let us in? We got what we came for."  
Once the doors were shut, Judy pulled her walkie talkie out of the duffel bag. "I better call this one in."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art: Lulu  
> Writing: ManedWolf  
> Editing: Silverchase
> 
> Full sized pictures of this chapter's art can be found here: https://imgur.com/a/MB0wWd4

"Dispatch, this is Officer Hopps, I have a promising lead on The Bomber, and I'm requesting backup to investigate, over."  
After a few moments of silence, she heard a crackly reply from the speaker.  
"No can do, Hopps, we've got a hundred other 'promising leads' to look into. Plus with protecting downtown and keeping the collar protest contained, we just don't have resources to spare."  
Exasperated, Judy put her free paw up in the air. "Never mind then, I'll investigate this one myself!"  
She stuffed the radio back into the duffel bag. "Are you two up for this?"  
Finnick spoke up first, "Hell no! I'm not risking my life for you! I drove Nick here as a favor."  
In a serious voice, Nick answered, "I'm in. I get the feeling all preds are going to suffer if another bombing is blamed on us."  
The fennec fox banged his head on the steering wheel. "Ugh. Fine, you guilt tripping asshole, I'll drive you there, but that's it!"

With the duffel bag over her shoulder, Judy led the way down to the waterfront, and from there to the back of the warehouse.  
The windows were too high up to peer into, so Nick carefully climbed onto a dumpster for a better look.  
He found that a black plastic sheet had been hung up in front of them, to keep out both prying eyes and the wind.  
Where a pane was missing, he put an ear to the plastic for a few moments, then sniffed at the gap between it and the window frame.  
Judy quietly climbed up after him, and he whispered into her ear, "There's definitely a couple pigs in there, and I heard what sounded like a plastic bag of powder being poured."  
After giving the window a good sniff as well, she whispered back, "I know that smell... fertilizer. That's ammonium nitrate!"  
The fox nodded. "I smelled oil too, so it seems that Honey was right, they are building a bomb. Do you think this is enough to get backup?"  
She shook her head. "No, we're gonna need visual confirmation and details, or they won't authorize anything."  
"Well, we can't just pry open a window without the pigs noticing, we need to clear the warehouse first."  
Judy patted the crouching fox's shoulder. "I'll handle the distraction, you wait here until they've cleared out of the warehouse, then slip in for a look." 

Judy climbed down from the dumpster, then pushed the duffel bag out of sight behind it.  
Nick whispered "Good luck," to Judy, then leaned up against the wall of the warehouse.  
She replied "Thanks, you too," then walked off as casually as she could manage, down the side of the warehouse, and around to the small office attached to the front.  
He began pretending to watch the traffic on the river, but he kept his ears to the building.  
After taking a deep breath, Judy knocked on the door, which quickly answered by an angry disheveled-looking warthog.  
He glared down at her. "What do you want, rabbit?"  
In her best country accent, she replied, "Whoa now, I ain't here to cause ya trouble... I got somethin' I think a fine fella' like you would appreciate."  
The warthog's angry expression softened "...go on."  
Using what she knew of pigs, which was mostly stereotypes, Judy improvised.  
"I got the finest black truffles in the whole tri-burrow area, straight from Bunnyburrow."  
With a wink, she added, "Course, I also got many other kinds. Rare kinds that you ain't ever gonna see in regulah markets." 

The warthog leaned in and sniffed at her coat. "I don't smell any truffles on you."  
Judy smiled and said, "Ah'd be a fool if I brought 'em with me, the smell would give me away. I'm just takin' orders, cash on delivery."  
He smiled back insincerely, without any warmth. "So, what brought you here, specifically?"  
She casually shrugged. "Ah heard some pigs moved in, and y'all are usually our best customers."  
After stepping back into the doorway, the warthog waved her in. "Alright, come on in."  
He pushed the door shut behind her. "Wait here, and don't touch nothing, I'm gonna get the rest of the boys."  
The warthog opened the door to the warehouse itself slightly. "Hey boys, take a break and come in the office! A truffle seller is here!"  
Four pigs trickled into the office one by one, and the last pushed the door to the warehouse shut behind him, while eyeing the stranger in the office.  
As Judy was rattling off every kind of truffle she could think of, she heard the sound of a plastic sheet being sliced coming from inside the warehouse.  
She continued without missing a beat, and hoped that only her ears were sensitive enough to have noticed. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for this chapter: OJ aka ahappypichu (http://ahappypichu-mod.tumblr.com/)  
> Writing: ManedWolf
> 
> NOTE: There are so many images in this chapter (46 total), that I can't embed them all!   
> Please open this Imgur album and see the storyboards that go with each paragraph of text: https://imgur.com/a/hGGruh3

Nick waited quietly with his ear to the plastic sheet covering the damaged window, until he heard what he hoped was the last pig walk out though a door, and then shut it.  
He took a moment to psych himself up for it, then he used one of his claws to slice a flap into the plastic behind a missing pane.   
The fox stuck his head in through the hole for a peek, and his eyes darted around the warehouse.  
After verifying that it was indeed unoccupied, he began to survey it's contents.  
To Nick's left, he saw the back of an old heating oil truck, mostly hidden behind a partition.   
Off to his right, he saw the door that lead to the office, which he watched for a moment to make sure it stayed shut.  
Amongst the junk strewn throughout the rest of the place were stacked bags of what Nick assumed to be fertilizer, and big jugs of motor oil.  
Finally, Nick looked down and saw that right below the window was a wooden crate, covered in big white bags, tools, and junk.  
(See image set 1)

Nick noticed a bare spot on the top of the crate, just big enough to stand on, and deftly lowered himself down onto it, one paw at a time.   
He glanced over to the oil truck again, and thought to himself "Are they putting oil from the jugs into the truck, or the other way around?"  
As quietly as he could, Nick picked up one of the unmarked bags on top of the crate and glanced inside, it was empty, but from the smell, he could tell it had once held fertilizer.   
Before he could put the bag down, an unexpected voice coming from within the room scared the whits out of him.  
Out of primal instinct, he pounced into the bag, and then curled up into a shivering ball inside.  
(See image set 2)

After a moment of panic, Nick realized that the sound was coming out of a speaker, not a mammal, and it was talking about containing a protest, not the dumb fox hiding in a bag.  
He slipped his head out, and then let his ears lead his eyes to the source, a police scanner sitting amongst the clutter on a small table in the front corner of the room.  
Nick admonished himself for letting his instincts get the better of him, then climbed out of the crinkly bag, as carefully as he could.  
"So much for being quiet," Nick whispered to himself, as he climbed down from the crate, which he noticed was open in the front, and half full of fertilizer bags.  
Once on the ground, he dashed over to the far side of the truck, both to be out of view, and to get a closer look at it.  
(See image set 3)

The warehouse was poorly lit, especially in this secluded corner, but Nick's keen eyesight let him see the truck clearly regardless.   
While the truck itself was rusted and dirty, he noticed that one part of it looked new, a metal tool box bolted to the frame under the tank, next to one of the rear wheels.  
On closer inspection, he noticed a small wire coming out of the toolbox, which led to an antenna on the side of the cab.   
More concerning to him though, was the heavier cable he found leading from the box into one of the drains for the oil tank.  
Nick didn't have any training in bomb making or disposal, but he didn't need it to know that what he was looking at was a massive truck-bomb.  
(See image set 4)

Thinking quickly, Nick came to the conclusion that the bomb wouldn't be armed yet, since they were apparently still filling it, but that it would be soon.  
What was far less certain to Nick however, was if he could sabotage the bomb, without having been trained in it, and without setting it off.  
He knew that if he screwed up and set it off, it would most likely level the whole building, so he tried to remain calm as he cautiously unlatched the toolbox lid, and hinged it down.  
Inside, Nick found a mess of circuit boards and wiring, which he couldn’t hope to really understand, but he did see a big relay that he thought looked important.   
As he reached into the wiring to work that part out of its socket, he whispered, "Here's to hoping this isn’t the last thing I do."  
A few breathless moments later, he retracted his shaky paw from the detonator circuit, with the relay clutched tightly in it.  
Nick breathed another sigh of relief as he shut the toolbox lid, and latched it once more, leaving it looking as it did before, from the outside at least.  
He whispered "Mission accomplished," to himself, as he stuffed the relay into his shirt pocket, and began walking back to the entrance he had made for himself.  
(See image set 5)

Nick's heart was just starting to settle down, as he walked away from the truck, but it was kicked into overdrive once more by the words "Alright boys, get back to work!"  
He scrambled back up the crate, and out through the flap he had cut, just in time to not be seen by the pigs as they re-entered the warehouse.  
One of the pigs looked over to the window through which the fox had just escaped, but his naturally poor eyesight kept him from noticing the new hole. "Did you hear somethin' out there?"  
The second pig shrugged. "Yeah, but it's probably just that damn raccoon bum rootin' though the dumpster outside again."  
Then in a much louder voice, he continued "And if he doesn't want his neck wrung, he better stay outta there!"  
Nick crouched low under the window, to avoid casting a shadow, then he crawled over to the wall to calm down, and hopefully avoid a shock from his collar.  
(See image set 6)

Once the leader of the pigs finished yelling at his henchmen to get back to work, he turned to Judy, who was finishing up taking notes.  
"We've got a lot of work to do today, and you've distracted us long enough, so out the door you go!"  
With a smirk on her face, she walked out the front door fast enough to avoid the warthog's shove.  
As Judy strolled away, she heard him yell "You better not screw up any of our orders!" before he slammed the door shut.  
She stuffed a note pad full of truffle orders that would never be filled into her sweatshirt pocket, then continued around the corner to the back of the warehouse.  
There she found Nick sitting on the dumpster, with his back against the wall behind it, and his collar flashing red.  
Judy climbed up onto the dumpster as quietly as she could, and then crawled over to the shaking fox.  
(See image set 7)

As if he was shell-shocked, Nick continued to stare blankly ahead, avoiding Judy's concerned stare.  
She whispered to him, "Nick, are you alright?"  
After a few moments, the fox turned his head towards the rabbit; he said nothing, but gave her a shaky nod of affirmation.  
Judy got close, then whispered into his ear "Come on then, we've got to get out of here," before hopping down behind the dumpster.  
She retrieved the duffel bag containing her police gear from it's hiding place back there, and slung it over her shoulder.  
With his collar now lit up a steady yellow, indicating that the immediate danger of a shock had passed, Nick climbed down from the dumpster as well.  
Together, they walked out of the alley, and then up the the street, away from the warehouse full of terrorist pigs.  
Once they were a solid block away, Judy turned to Nick.   
"Well, I just got a bunch of orders for truffles, and more importantly, all their first names. What did you find in there?"  
(See image set 8)


End file.
